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March 24, 2003 The Honorable Bob Beauprez United States House of Representatives 511 Cannon House Office Building
Dear Congressman Beauprez: I am writing regarding the United States’ refusal to honor the Geneva Convention in regard to our treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo, Cuba, as it impacts on Iraqi treatment of American POWs. When Mr. Ari Fleischer, the President’s press secretary, was questioned about this issue today by Ms. Helen Thomas, he refused to state that the U.S. is honoring the Geneva Convention with regard to prisoners at Guantanamo, although he said that they are being treated humanely. He distinguished between the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq. I understand that the U.S. claims that the Afghans imprisoned at Guantanamo are not prisoners of war because they were not wearing military uniforms when they were captured, and therefore should be treated as terrorists rather than soldiers. Considering the poverty in Afghanistan and the informal way in which wars have been fought there for generations, I’m not sure the uniform/civilian clothes argument is valid. Furthermore, the U.S. as the richest, most powerful nation in the world could afford to give these poor Afghans the benefit of the doubt if it meant better treatment for American prisoners of war captured by Iraq. It does not mean that we would have to let them go, but it would counter suspicions that we are torturing them. Furthermore, I am disappointed at the United States’ failure to adhere to the Vienna Convention in the treatment of foreign civilians arrested for ordinary crimes in the U.S. In particular, President Bush’s decision not to respect the Vienna Convention regarding the execution of Mexican national Javier Suarez Medina last August led to the break in cordial relations between the United States and Mexico and between President Bush and his former friend Mexican President Vicente Fox. Bush’s snub of Fox in that Vienna Convention case led to Mexico’s failure to support the U.S. in the UN Security Council, complicating the beginning of the U.S. war with Iraq. When I was a vice-consul in Brazil, I insisted several times under the Vienna Convention on forcing Brazilian police to allow me to visit Americans who had been arrested there. I believe that this protected the Americans from being mistreated while in Brazilian custody. I don’t know what would happen if an American vice-consul made a similar argument today. Finally, I am disappointed that the U.S. did not do more to win UN Security Council support for a U.S. war in Iraq. I think that originally we had enough support. The main follow-up problem was not necessarily France, but rather the CIA’s failure to supply good information on Iraq’s possession and production of weapons of mass destruction. In particular, the fact that some of the information presented to the Security Council turned out to have been fabricated strongly undercut the American case. I hope that you will urge the Administration to obey international law, which I believe will help insure proper treatment of American POWs under the Geneva Convention. Sincerely, James W. Chamberlin
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